The highlight for Director for Wales of the Countryside Alliance, will be the opportunity to catch up with all members and supporters
IT is an absolute delight to see so many thriving rural businesses, whether you are making cheese, brewing beer, selling countryside themed artwork or huge powerful farm machinery – this show is where many a purchase is made, deals are struck and car boots filled with goods bought and carried selflessly through the crowded isles by shoppers pleased with their purchases.
It is also the shop window for so many of our Countryside Alliance Awards finalists and winners from across Wales. Some will be there for a day out, others will be there as trade stands, and I know only too well how much work that is, to set up your stand and to ensure that everything is running like clockwork for when the gates open on Monday morning. Our food and drink producers are up against it, most of them, such as Penmincae Welsh Beef and Lamb, are cooking in sweltering heat or fending off drops of rain from the griddle, while promoting farming and sustaining a traditional family fam.
It is also a hugely important time for us to continue with our political engagement. Assembly Members and Welsh Government officials visit the stand throughout the week, it is a chance to talk shop outside of Cardiff Bay, which is always a refreshing change for all concerned.
Come and see us on the Countryside Alliance stand as we have plenty to see and do; hounds, ferrets, birds of prey, game cookery demonstrations and a few guest surprises too.
This year we welcome local Countryside Alliance Award National winner Hayley Hanson Hide to the stand. Hayley won the Wales title in 2016 and went on to win the national in the Rural Enterprise category. Hayley produces high quality cattle hides and leather goods from her very own herd of cattle in Breconshire and is a superb example of a farm diversification that has reached out to customers across the globe. If you would like to hear Hayley’s story and see some of her work, do email us your details for some times and dates to join us at the show. rachel-evans@ countryside-alliance.org